Welcome

Welcome to the POZ Community Forums, a round-the-clock discussion area for people with HIV/AIDS, their friends/family/caregivers, and
others concerned about HIV/AIDS. Click on the links below to browse our various forums; scroll down for a glance at the most recent posts; or join in the
conversation yourself by registering on the left side of this page.

Privacy Warning: Please realize that these forums are open to all, and are fully searchable via Google and other search engines. If you are HIV positive
and disclose this in our forums, then it is almost the same thing as telling the whole world (or at least the World Wide Web). If this concerns you, then do not use a
username or avatar that are self-identifying in any way. We do not allow the deletion of anything you post in these forums, so think before you post.

The information shared in these forums, by moderators and members, is designed to complement, not replace, the relationship between an individual and his/her own
physician.

All members of these forums are, by default, not considered to be licensed medical providers. If otherwise, users must clearly define themselves as such.

Forums members must behave at all times with respect and honesty. Posting guidelines, including time-out and banning policies, have been established by the moderators
of these forums. Click here for “Am I Infected?” posting guidelines. Click here for posting guidelines pertaining to all other POZ community forums.

We ask all forums members to provide references for health/medical/scientific information they provide, when it is not a personal experience being discussed. Please
provide hyperlinks with full URLs or full citations of published works not available via the Internet. Additionally, all forums members must post information which are
true and correct to their knowledge.

Author
Topic: alive magazine and statistic? (Read 10383 times)

hi was very pleased with the positive post by xan about survival, it states a pos person can live 20-30 + years and that the new drugs can prolong life.great! my question is: is it the drugs or the genetic disposition that play appart.Why is because i just read an article in alive magazine this month (no link) sorry that is a natural health magazine saying that the hiv test are not fda approved and not accurate and the average on set of diagnosis- hiv- aids is like 9.2 years aprox... and that was a new publication! it also stated the drugs dont work and that is the average life expectancy.yes shocking! so i am wary what i read. especially if i am talking to people that have hiv for 10 odd years and never been on meds could live another 10? what gives?is this just averages or what. does the drugs really play a part on life expectancy? i'm frustrated what articles i read! grrrr

The antibody tests approved for HIV diagnosis (ie saying you are HIV (antibody) positive) are usually enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (EIA in the list) or western blot (WB). There are test technologies used to detect many other things, not just HIV << though obviously the tests for HIV are designed to respond to HIV antibodies.

Other tests, eg p24 antigen are approved but not for diagnosis (they have other uses).

The average onset of AIDS from untreated HIV infection is 4-9 years, but some people reach a CD4 count of 200 in 3 years or less and some in longer than 10. It really depends on how your immune system interacts with the virus (this is true of any virus, like flu even, some people get real sick, some people just get mopey).

As for the drugs not working, on combo I am alive and well, before treatment I was alive and ill.

Natural health mags always seem to find people (a person) who is HIV-positive and never done treatment but lives a holistic lifestyle etc and attributes their health to the yoga/supplements/organic juices, not their immune system's makeup. It's like them smokers who lived till 80 and never got cancer or heart disease. "Well, lucky you!" say all the dead folk who smoked into their early graves. With HIV, most people's immune systems will give out sooner or later. What happens then is up to them. Me personally I chose combo.

thank you matt that is exactly the answer i wanted to know! it's just so frustrating the different statistics. so you were alive and sick till the combo would that be atripila? so now you feel alive and well excellent just what i wanted to know. was your t- cells dropping or because your symptomatic?I seem to be symptomatic so soon it scares me, i have headaches every day, burning throat, naseau is that normal so soon?thanks for the advice

Powder, I am going to flat out ask you openly here about your HIV status. A number of members have questioned whether you are in fact HIV positive or not. More than a few feel you have been evasive about giving a direct response about this.

Have you tested positive for HIV and has that been a confirmed result? Please give specific details regarding your testing.

This particular thread is one that is only open to those who are HIV positive.

yes iwent in for several tests the first couple were negative then i got a positive elisa test. i tried to find the source so running around and then i moved, and a close friend died prolonged my visit. then i had to find a good specialist /gp that knows hiv. has been hard!long story short i found out the sounce is hep c poz so back i go to the clinic for a test. I Just got the news today at 5/34 my hep c test was negative! how can i get hiv from him but not hepC? i thought it was more contagious? i asked if my numbers were in but they haven't come in they are sent of to a different place than the hep c test. so i am awaiting my numbers, i had a problem at the lab getting my paper because it was anonomous, which i have told others here. so here i sit nervous and feeling ill. keep you posted P.S. a new friend of mine is Hiv Pos too i am telling him to join he has no family or support he has no meds has it for 8 years his doctor told him he should start meds but he hasn't gone back in or got his numbers he also needs support he is procrastinating at starting his meds till his housing is settled is family just threw him out. So i told him about this site! whew what a month so far hep c free. do i need to go back for that test i was neg for hep at 51/2 months i don't want to be co infected.??//?or is the hep conclusive?

When I was tested, I got the Oral Quick test- a swab of my gums. That returned a positive result in 20 minutes. I was given a blood draw right then on the spot to get both a confirmation and a VL. I would have assumed that anyone that was given a positive result would have gotten a confirmation test done right then.

a girlfriend of mine, in my building got raped. i guess its good that i'm moving out. what are the chances that i happened to date this guy for two weeks till i found out he was a creep. i can't believe the shitty luck i'm having she told me the other day ,i might have to testify or something? too many things are happening to me i need to focus on me and my health i never seem to have time i need to move to the country???/

i am staying with friend because of the saftey issue i technically have my apt till the end of the month legally. so i'm in the process of moving but i'm right now out and safe fromthat creep in the building. i'm just getting a few more things. he is going back to get a few of his possessions he is evicted at the end of the month. a court case will probably happen he has just been released from jail i hear. so i don't really want to go back in case i run into him. i hope that clarifies things. so technically i'm outta there but legally i have the apt till the end of the month.

On the hep C, a hepatitis C antibody test needs to be repeated at 6 months to confirm negative/positive status as it can take 24 weeks for the body to develop antibodies to the virus. A hepatitis C RNA (viral load) test taken now that is negative suggests you do not have hepatitis C. If your hepatitis C antibody result shows positive at the next test you would expect to also have a high reading on the RNA test, indicating acute infection. Hepatitis C is harder to transmit than HIV via sex (but not injecting drug use).

shit so like the test i just got at 5 1/2 months negative is not conclusive? i thought it was pretty close. would it take longer if co- infected wth hep c and hiv? idon't have yellow skin or dark urine yet but i do have itchy skin.

i would have got it a stupid way. embarassed. i had a small cut came into direct contact with his bloody scab didn't have gloves on he is hep c poz so i really should have it because it's blood blood contact. i know better i didn't see my cut till i washed my hands.

thunter we don't do oral qiuck tests at std clinic. we do antibody test at std clinic it is the sent to special lab in vancouver takes 2-3 weeks for results. then once poz you get councelled. show your id and receive a copy of your result. unfortunatley anonomous clinic is anonomous and initals are on and birthdate it is hard to prove its you with no name then take the result to your gp or hiv clinic for requisition form to draw blood for viral load test wait again for results. the std clinic doesn't do viral load tests. you must be american right?

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

thunter we don't do oral qiuck tests at std clinic. we do antibody test at std clinic it is the sent to special lab in vancouver takes 2-3 weeks for results. then once poz you get councelled. show your id and receive a copy of your result. unfortunatley anonomous clinic is anonomous and initals are on and birthdate it is hard to prove its you with no name then take the result to your gp or hiv clinic for requisition form to draw blood for viral load test wait again for results. the std clinic doesn't do viral load tests. you must be american right?

PP, I read where you have stated this in another thread some time ago and frankly the second reading doesn't make any more sense to me than the first time. I'm still not really clear on if you have conclusively tested positive for HIV.

I'd hate to see that you've been worrying here for three months when you don't know what your status is.

thunter we don't do oral qiuck tests at std clinic. we do antibody test at std clinic it is the sent to special lab in vancouver takes 2-3 weeks for results. then once poz you get councelled. show your id and receive a copy of your result. unfortunatley anonomous clinic is anonomous and initals are on and birthdate it is hard to prove its you with no name then take the result to your gp or hiv clinic for requisition form to draw blood for viral load test wait again for results. the std clinic doesn't do viral load tests. you must be american right?

philly is right: that doesn't make any sense. from the way you describe it, there would routinely be mass confusion about who is and isn't positive based on this "hard to prove it is or isn't you". and are there people clamoring to claim positive results?? i have been to anonymous testing clinics here in the states (yes, i am american) and there are still safe guards in place to make sure that results are matched to the appropriate person.

and as for your infection event: hep c is a much hardier and infectious virus than HIV. it is hard for me to fathom you getting infected with HIV in the way you describe.

i'm thankful my confirmations and VL tests were handled in the way they were. i very likely would have died if it had taken me the time it has taken you to get yours.

the scenario you describe is not a realistic transmission risk for hiv. If you have tested positive for hiv, this was very unlikely to be how you contracted it.

Quote

..show your id and receive a copy of your result. unfortunatley anonomous clinic is anonomous and initals are on and birthdate it is hard to prove its you with no name..

I am confused how you came to the conclusion you had tested positive, if you weren't able to actually get your results from the clinic? At anonymous testing centres, people are usually given unique ID codes, or make some other arrangement with regards to how they will identify themselves to receive results.

A suggestion, maybe, in order to reduce the amount of stress and uncertainty this must all be causing you, to either 1) go back to the clinic with correct ID & collect any results which are there or 2) go and retest, somewhere that will be easier for you to access

i would have got it a stupid way. embarassed. i had a small cut came into direct contact with his bloody scab didn't have gloves on he is hep c poz so i really should have it because it's blood blood contact. i know better i didn't see my cut till i washed my hands.

this is precisely the type of scenario WW's are told not to worry about on here all the time.

i have also never known of a clinic like that that did not either do a confirmation/VL test right there on the spot or else call and schedule an immediate appointment for that to be done elsewhere right then and there. it is in the public interest to do so- so they are typically quite serious about such a thing.

in all honesty, this whole "anonyomous hard to prove it is you" clinic scenario you describe sounds rather hard to believe. these places exist in the interest of the public health. it is hard to swallow that any of them are allowed to function in any such haphazard manner as you describe.

So regardless: as of now your true positive status is as of yet unconfirmed, correct? You have not received verification of that. I agree with Ann and the others: it's highly likely that you are worrying yourself over nothing.

In Canada, the protocol would be for an initial test that is positive or indeterminate for HIV to be referred for a second test using an ELISA assay (in duplicate) which, if positive is confirmed using a Western Blot or other approved assay. At this point a diagnosis may be given. This is the same whether the initial test is a rapid one (eg fingerprick/oral swab) or conventional blood draw from the arm etc

HIV is not transmitted from clots to small cuts, so you also need to fess up to yourself about the real risks you have taken etc. I do not say be comfortable with or public about the activities the risks may have involved, but the truth is the start of clarity. And if you have taken real risks, or just for peace of mind, you need to haul your bum down to a clinic and get the HIV ELISA + Western Blot etc, and I guess a fresh, full sexual health screen including hepatitis A, B and C.

i origionally thought i got it another way but then i had to find my source. his blood must of got in my cut. thats direct entry you can get hep c that way too it only takes a small amount of blood

PP...I have to tell you that, you are making a complete mockery of HIV infection and those have it...and another thing, Ann is completely right! Your scenario is highly improbable and impossible. What ever credability you had with me has been completely stripped away.

Get yourself to the doctor have the confirmatory test done, and please, be aware of how you come across in this thread, if not the forums entirely. I am sorry that you think you have HIV...and I am more troubled by the impression you give that this is some exclusive club that is looking to broaden its membership...

hiv like hep c is trasmitted through blood blood contact. since retarded me did not wear gloves and the personinquestion had blood that got some how in my wound because i'm a total retard i washed immediatly with soap and water when i noticed a cut on my hand! i put hydrogen peroxide on the wound it stang meaning my cut is reasonable fresh. honestly i didn't think about it untill i got a stange flu. I thought i got it another stupid way but i talked to the doctor. since i was abstinant obviously i didn't get it sexually.the person in question was hepc pos probably high risk thats why i got tested. so far my hep is neg but the dr. says i should go back just to make sure. it can take longer.....

As for the clinic you go in with your code or anoymous initials which they tell you your result. verbally. if i want a paper copy i need to show id they said. no problem, if theinitals don't say my name on them they wont give me a written copy because it couldt prove it is me it doest match the anonomous initials, however vebally they can tell me and set uo an appont because my code matched the little paper. with gp elsewhere for viral load testing

people get body fruid splashed in there eyes, needle pricks, and accidental cuts and abraisions thats why one should wear gloves unfortunately accidents happen. i was stupid because i did't notice the cut till afterther are reports of persons seroconverting from these incidents although less common.

For your sake, I'm thinking that all this guesswork and defensive posturing on your part has gone on long enough. The way I'm reading this, you seem to be investing a heck of a lot of time and energy "defending" the remote possibility of your potential exposure to HIV, when you really should be focusing on making an appointment with a medical doctor (anonymous testing procedures should be the least of your concerns right now) for comprehensive follow-up in light of your unconfirmed results. It's your skirting of the most basic issues -- and common sense -- that has a lot of folks confused and reluctant to engage you further.

At this stage of the game, I'm going to lock this thread and ask that you only post messages in the "Am I Infected?" Forum, as this really isn't the place to discuss the uncertainties surrounding your potential exposure to HIV (or HCV) and the next steps you should be taking to get to the bottom of this.